


Such Sweet Sorrow

by misura



Category: Café Kichijouji de
Genre: Community: smallfandomfest, M/M, Magic Made Them Do It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-17
Updated: 2014-06-17
Packaged: 2018-02-05 01:44:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1800868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're ... moving?" Taro asked. It seemed impossible.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Such Sweet Sorrow

**Author's Note:**

> prompt: _Maki/Taro, being neighborly_ (madame_oryx)

"You're ... moving?" Taro asked. It seemed impossible.

"Congratulations!" Jun said, which seemed a bit presumptuous; a sloth like Maki probably wasted all his money on booze and buying things he was too lazy to look for - likely as not, he was moving to save on rent, to some small (or at least small _er_ ) apartment to save on rent.

"Yeah," Maki said. "Whatever."

Taro tried not to beam. Or dance. Or just smile very broadly. Reminding himself that this was _Maki_ helped; when had Maki ever done anything that convenienced him?

"It's not a joke?" he inquired warily. "Because you're not getting a raise or anything just because you'll be having some extra expenses this month."

"Sheesh, Taro," Maki said, which probably meant 'no', except that Maki preferred to be rude about it. "Why on Earth would I joke about moving? Seriously."

 

"Is there any particular reason Taro is making out with a mop?" Minagawa asked.

"Mr Maki is moving out of his apartment," Tokumi said, before Taro could point out that he was maybe indulging in a bit of tango - no making out whatsoever.

"Ah," Minagawa turned to Taro and grinned in a decidedly disturbing kind of way. "Already on the rebound, Taro?"

"I am happy," Taro said defiantly. "Finally, _finally_ the scourge of our otherwise perfectly nice apartment building will be gone. Goodbye, roaches. Goodbye, strange smells. I'll be able to open my windows again when it's sunny, without needing to worry about fumes."

"Oh," Minagawa said. He didn't look particularly exultant, which was fine with Taro. Even Minagawa wouldn't have any reason to wish for Maki to keep living where he did. Probably.

"Are you going to throw him a goodbye party, Mr Taro?" Jun asked.

"Certainly not," Taro replied, shocked. The mess would be terrible, and of course it would be up to him to clean it all up again. Besides, he was sure Maki wouldn't enjoy a proper party, with fresh cleansers and lemony freshness and perhaps a tiny bit of soothing music.

"That's kind of mean, don't you think?" Tokumi put in.

Minagawa smiled and petted Sukekiyo. "Perhaps Taro thinks Maki should be throwing us all a housewarming party."

"Hey, why have one party when you can have two?" Tokumi asked.

"You're only saying that because you want free food," Jun said.

"What's wrong with free food? It's free."

"I will celebrate Maki's departure in private," Taro said, with great dignity.

"You could publicly say you're going to miss him, you know," Minagawa said. "I think that would be the neighborly thing to do."

"Oh, I'm going to miss him, all right," Taro muttered. "Like a pain in my behind."

"Do you think Maki's moving out because he doesn't want to live next door to Mr Taro anymore?" Tokumi whispered to Jun. "I mean, I know _I_ would want to move, if that was the way my neighbors were talking about me."

"So you get along with your current neighbors?" Jun asked. "I thought you said you'd never met them."

"Well, that works for me," Tokumi said brightly. "And they leave scraps of food in front of my door sometimes."

 

Minagawa was up to something. Being Minagawa, it probably wasn't anything good - and he was being very sneaky about it, too.

"I think you're just imagining things, Mr Taro," Jun said, when questioned about Minagawa's recent movements. "Why would Mr Minagawa do anything to you? It was Maki's own decision to move, wasn't it?"

"Of course," Taro said, which got him a mildly dubious look from Jun. "What? You think I bullied him into it or something?"

"The two of you don't exactly get along," Jun pointed out. "Perhaps it would help if you talked to him."

"To Maki?" Taro said, appalled.

"To Mr Minagawa," Jun said, blinking. "To make sure he hasn't misunderstood the situation."

"You just said I was only imagining things," Taro said, a little annoyed. "Now you're suggesting that maybe he's actually plotting something? Some sort of revenge for Maki's sake?"

"Let your conscience be your guide, Mr Taro," Jun said, beaming at him with all the benevolence of one who is completely uninvolved and thus utterly safe from dark curses and/or suspicious accidents.

 

"Did I what now?" Maki asked, scratching at his ear.

Taro scowled at him. "Did you tell Minagawa I bullied you into moving?"

"Why would I tell Minagawa you bullied me into moving?"

"Can't you just answer a simple question?" Taro snapped. "Yes or no?"

"Well, no," Maki said. "But if it's getting you this worked up, I'm thinking maybe I should."

 

"It is better to have a good neighbor than a distant friend," Minagawa declared, gesturing grandly with his cup of sake.

Taro was fairly sure he was the only person who was still sober at this point in the evening. Which was good, obviously; _someone_ had to be the responsible one.

Plus, here he was, at Maki's goodbye party, without anything at all unusual having happened to him. He'd even caught a whiff of lemon this afternoon, when walking past Maki's apartment - or, well, Maki's _former_ apartment.

It had been very satisfying, too, to see Maki lugging stuffed bags around, clearly intended for the trash containers downstairs. Taro had very nearly been moved to offer his help.

"Would you like some more sake, Mr Taro?" Jun asked, and Taro amended his earlier assumption: clearly, there were at least _two_ sober persons at this party.

 

Taro wasn't quite sure how he ended up with his head on Maki's shoulder.

Ordinarily, he'd have jerked away as soon as he'd realized just who he was touching, but, well. Maki smelled sort of nice, right now - all fresh and lemon-y.

True, it was a very basic cleaning smell; hardly original; probably at least seven in ten cleaning products smelled like lemon. Still, as far as Taro was concerned, that simply meant lemon was a classic. A golden oldie. A good smell for one who had only just set his first steps on the path of cleanliness.

"If we make out while we're drunk, are you going to kill me tomorrow morning?" Maki asked.

"You're not going to be here anymore tomorrow morning," Taro pointed out, with great and irrefutable logic, if he did say so himself.

"Well, we're still going to be seeing each other," Maki said. "At work and - well, at work."

Taro considered. He _was_ drunk, and under normal circumstances, he'd certainly never even have _considered_ making out with Maki, but, well. Nobody'd ever find out, and even if they did, he had a perfect excuse. And it's be really nice to be kissing someone who smelled like lemon. Most people smelled like roses, or perfume, or aftershave these days.

"I might yell at you," he said, to be honest. "A little."

"What else is new?" Maki asked, and pulled him a bit closer.

 

"You're ... not moving?" Taro asked.

"Huh?" Maki said. He no longer smelled of lemon, Taro noted absently. "Yeah, sure. Just for a few days, until they've fixed the pipes. Didn't I tell you?"

"There was an official memo sent to all the renters," Minagawa said. "As the apartment to the other side of you stood empty, it was decided Maki could stay in that one for a few days."

"I ... " Taro said. "You ... "

"Taro is speechless with joy, I think," Minagawa said. "How nice."

Jun nodded. "It's like you said at the party, Mr Minagawa. Better a good neighbor than a distant friend."


End file.
